Means for separating heavy and light comminuted materials.



J. D. NAIRNE. v MEANS FOR SBPARATING HEAVY AND LIGHT GOMMINU-TED MATERIALS;

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

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J. D. NAIRNE.

MEANS FOR sEPAEATNG HEAVY AND LIGHT GOMMINUTED MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE l, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

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MEANS POR SEPARATING HEAVY AND LIGHT GOMMINUTBD MATERIALS.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 1,1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

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TNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES D. NAIRNE, 0F ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO CLAUDE T. ADAMS, 0F ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA.

MEANS FOR SEPARATING HEAVY AND LIGHT COMMINUTED MATERIALS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24e, 1914,

Application filed .Tune 1, 1911. Serial No. 630,662.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that l, JAMES D. NAIRNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alhambra, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Means for Separating Heavy and Light Comminuted Materials, of which thc following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to facilitate the recovery of the heavy values contained in finely pulvcrized ore.

Hcretofore in dry concentration bodies of linely pulverized ore pulp have been passed over a permeable shaking table top through which compressed air is forced so as to keep the pulp body in a loose light condition thus to allow the heavier line particles to settle to the table top and riifles have been employed to direct the heavy material thus settled, to a place of discharge; the table top being inclined in one direction to carry the gangue to the tail of the table.

An object of this invention is to make a perfect separation between the heavy values and the lighter material and I regard this invention as pioneer in that l skim from the top of the air loosened mass of pulp, the lighter' material and direct it toward the tail of the table and in this way am able to effect by process of dry concentration a cleaner concentration and a closer saving than has heretofore been possible with either dry or wet methods of concentration, and to do this without classifying or sizing the material; the only preliminary operation necessary being such a crushing of the ore as to free the values from the gangue. The skimming operation is simultaneously carried on at numerous places, the pulp body being divided by the skimmers into numerous strips isolated from each other by the skimmers.

This invention relates to a method of operation whereby while the mass of dry ore pulp is permeated with air under pressure, thus allowing the heavy particles in the pulp to sink through the mass, such heavy particles are shifted in one direction by mechanical means, and'at the same time the unsettled portion of the mass is shifted by gravity in another direction and the upper portion of the mass is skimmed from the heavy portion which has settled to the bottom of the mass, the final skimming operation being performed on the body of concentrates themselves so that only the lower or heavier strata of particles are finally dischargedwhere this is desired.

This invention relates also to the arrangement on a flexible air chest top that is permeable to air, of rillies and skimmers whereby when the table is shaken or vibrated the heavier material will descend to the said permeable top and the lighter material will flow olf in one direction while the heavier material or concentrates will :flow off in another direction.

An object of the invention is to provide means whereby the machine can be readily adjusted to deliver as clean a concentratimi of the values as may be desired and whereb y the machine may be readily adjusted for concentrating different ores havingr greater or less percentage of values.

A further object is to provide for producing pure concentrates at one part of the table. and seconds or middles at other parts of the table, thus at one operation, to save in separate bodies the heavy values that have been fully detached from the rock and lighter values and the values which are not so detached.

A further object of the invention is to produce at will any character of concentrates required for any subsequent treatment.

A further object is to provide a dry concentrator that will continuously discharge the values without clean-up stoppings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus, parts of the side rail and the overlapping material of the air-chest top being broken away to expose the skimmers and riliies. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the machine on two planes parallel with the ritlles as indicated by line ai, Figs. l and 2. Fig. l is an enlarged detail side elevation of one of the tail-supporting hinges and its connections partly in section. Fig. 5 is an analogous detail of one of the adjustable headsupporting hinges and its connections. Fig. 6 is an elevation from line fr, Fig. 5, partly in section. Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmental perspective detail to illustrate the construction and arrangement of the riflies and skimmers and their combination with the flexible top. Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmental detail side elevation of the tail lill@ of the table viewed from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 2. F ig. 9 is a broken fragmental detail of the under side of the top frame removed from the table. Fig. 1G is a fragmental enlarged perspective view of the discharge side of the table top showing in dotted lines value accumulations that may occur in operation. Parts are broken away for clearness of illustration and to contract the view. In this view the skimmers are shown normal to the riflies. Fig. 11 is an enlarged fra gmental side elevation of the table in operation, showing the manner of discharging the values.

The apparatus comprises a. table A, and a supporting frame B therefor, said table comprising an air chest with permeable top and means above said top to effect separation of the values from the waste when the table is properly operated.

The body 1 of the air chest may be a box that is air-tight at bottom, sides and ends and is open at its upper side to receive the table top sheet 2 that is permeable to air, preferably being made of canvas, felt, or some other suitable textile material having a close mesh, which while being permeable to air under pressure is of sufficiently close weave to support o-n its surface the values of iinely pulverized pulp. Air is supplied to the interior of the chest through a flexible pipe 3 from an air compressor et driven by a belt 5 over pulley 6 that is mounted on a shaft 7 which carries an eccentric 8 that operates the shaking lever 9 which has an antifriction ball 9 and acts against the arm 10 that is fixed to the bottom of the air chest and moves said chest against the pressure of the spring 11 which returns the chest in the opposite direction; the tension of said spring being regulated by a screw-threaded adjusting rod 12 rthat screws through a nut 13 fixed to the cross-bar 14 that is fixed to the side bars 15 of the frame B which supports the air chest. Said air chest is mounted on the frame by suitable means as the single jointed tail supports 16 and the double jointed head supports 17 by which the chest top is held aslant. The pitch of the chest top may be altered by adjusting the head supports, there being for this purpose, an extensible joint formed by the bracket standard 18 provided with a ridged face 19 and slot 20, a bolt 21 extending through the slot and screwed into the head swinging brackets 22.

Each of the head supports 17 comprises the head-piece 23, a link 2st pivoted thereto by a horizontal pin 25, and a foot-piece 26 pivoted to the link by the pin 27, thus to allow the table to be slanted from head to tail at any desired angle by simply adjusting the standard 18 up or down on the bracket 22. The tail-support comprises the head-piece 23, and foot-piece 29 pivoted together by a horizontal pin 30. The separating top frame may be made of a head bar 31, two side rails 32, 33, transverse rifles 34 and skimmers 35, 35, that may be at an angle to o-r parallel with the side rails 32, 33. rThe riflies 34 are thin strips of wood or metal, about one-fourth inch wide and lgth inch thick; they are arranged preferably about one inch apart, more or less, according to the coarseness or fineness of the material to be operated* upon, and lie flat upon the permeable top sheet underneath the skimmers 35 or 35 which may be strips of wood or metal; and if the skimmers are of wood they are about one-fourth inch thick horilZontally and one inch deep vertically, being set about one and one-half inches apart and on edge relative to the riffles and table top. They are squared or mitered at their ends where. attached to the frame rails 32, 33, as occasion requires, to make tight joints. The rifiies 3e are tacked by brads 3G to the bottom edges of the skimmers 35 and their parallel upper and lower edges extend in the direction of the lines of motion of the table, which direction is normal to the side rails 32, 33, that are fastened by screws a to the air chest body which may be provided at one side with a tongue 37 over which the permeable top sheet 2 may be stretched, when spread over the air chest to which it is fastened by suitable means as by the tacks 3S driven into all four walls of the chest.

The side rail 32 opposite the discharge rail 33 may be provided with a groove 39 that is just wide enough to fit tightly down over the flexible top sheet and the tongue 37, thus to bind said top sheet tightly onto the tongue; and to stretch the flexible top sheet tightly over the chest. Then the separating top frame is thus forced down into place the permeable and flexible table top sheet will be drawn quite taut so that it 1will sag but little, if any, below the bottom of the riffies 34: when the air pressure is off. The spring 11 is on the same side of the machine with the discharge rail 33.

When in practical operation air is compressed into the air chest, its expansive power holds the iiexible table top sheet up tightly against the bottoms of the riffles: Y L C and these are supported against such pressure by the edgewise arranged skimmers. Un top of the skimmers and secured thereto are knocker-bloc rs fr0 with a vibrator L1-1 pivoted thereto by a pin 412 and arranged to cause vibration of the permeable top as the same is shaken to and fro by the shaking lever 9 and the spring 11.

By the arrangement of the riiiies, spring and shaking' lever shown, the tendency of the pulverized pulp on the permeable top sheet of the shaking table will be to shift to that side of the machine on which the spring is located. The skimmers may extend diagonally across the table top away from the table head and away from that side of the machine on which the spring is located; or they may be normal to the ri'vv es; and in practical operation the pulp is fed from the feed-box all into the spaces between the skimmers at the head or upper end of the table. The skimmer edges between the ritlles are held by the riiiies about lth inch above the surface of the permeable top sheet and said permeable top sheet is compressed against the under side of the ritlies by the air pressure, thus preventing the escape of material between the permeable top sheet and the riftles.

The tendency of the skimmers during the operation of the table is to direct the lighter material toward the tail of the table and prevent it from reaching the value discharging side. Said skimmers are provided, in their lower edges for a space at that side of the chest farthest away from the spring, with notches forming openings t5 through which the gangue that reaches that side of the table may freely pass. The shaking action of the table, however, tends to move the material and particularly the heavier particles thereof toward the spring side of the table and therefore during the operation the heavier material will slide along the rittles. Said ril'lles extend under the discharge rail 33 thus forming open discharge orifices 46 through which the values or concentrates may pass from the table. Cross bars f7 extend from rail to rail over the skimmers to hold them down and enable them to resist the air pressure of the chest. Said cross bars are preferably made of iron pipe held in place by screws 48 screwed into the rails. Stays t9 in the form of wooden strips are fastened to the frame and to the tops'of the skimmers for the purpose of strengthening and holding the skimmers in position. Movement of the table responsive to the action of the lever 9 and spring ll may be provided for in any way desired.

In the drawings the brackets 22 and 50 are mounted to swing on vertical axes 51, 52; and the standards 1G, 17, are pivoted to the tops of the brackets by vertical pins 53, 5i. The discharge outlets 46 are narrower than the spaces between the rifiies and are arranged at the upper edges of the rities respectively, and gates 55 are provided for all of the outlets; and may be horizontally arranged plugs provided with shoulders 5G spaced apart from the inner ends of the plugs a distance practically equal to the width of the discharge rail 33, so that when the plugs are inserted into the outlets from the outside of the discharge rail, the inner face formed by the discharge rail and the inner ends of the plugs will be a plain smooth vertical surface.

The gates 55 may be constructed in any manner deemed advisable providing, however, that to secure the best results it is necessary that the inner surface of the discharge rail shall be practically smooth and the inner face of the gate flush therewith when the gate is closed, so that upon opening the gate there will be no disturbance of the accumulations banking against the side rail further than escape of the values which are at the immediate opening formed by moving the gate. In the drawings the gates are of two forms. For the purpose of illustration in one form said gates are vertically slidable in notches 57 cut into the inner side of the face of the discharge rail and covered except at the discharge outlet by a sheet 58 of metal or other suitable material. The body of the table is provided at the upper end with a banking rail 59 extending at an angle of about 30O to the side rail.

l/Vhen it is desired to start the machine into operation allv of the gates will be closed and the pulp will be allowed to flow from the feed boX la onto the head of the table, and the machine will be operated. The values will first begin to accumulate along the bank rail 59 and will drift along the same to the discharge rail 33 and will accumulate in a body against the discharge rail until one or more outlets are covered at the 95 upper end of the table. Then a suflicient number of said outlets, say three or four, have thus been covered with the values, theoperator will open one or more of the uppermost gates sufficiently to relieve the ac- 100 cumulations of values at the top of the table, but not to materially decrease the bank of values. This same operation may be performed farther down the table as the necessity arises and the values accumulate 105 farther down. That is to say, the concentrates on this table will bank up at different points along the discharge rail and the operator will open one or more gates at the required points where the accumulations or 11o bankings occur, so that the discharge will lalways occur from a pure body of values which has become banked against the discharge rail so as to extend above or to the top of the discharge outlet that has been 115 opened; care being taken that the discharge from each outlet is always supplied from below the top of the bank of values so as not to allow an air space over the values and through the outlet.

Any material discharged at the value outlets may within the judgment of the operator, be classed as seconds to be returned for further concentration or for such further treatment as may be deemed advisable. 125 It is safe to open gates at the lower end of the table to discharge any values that may have drifted down and the material from the lower outlets may go in with the seconds. By these means the process of las concentration is placed wholly under the control of the operator and by constructing the table of sutlicient length the tailings may be practically free from all concentratable values.

In conducting this process the material must be suiiiciently dry to prevent the particles from adhering to each other so that the proper classication may take place without hindrance. lt is only necessary that the ore shall be crushed to such lineness as will release the values and when this is done no classification or sizing is required the pulp being fed dry onto the head of the table. The only purpose of the compressed air is to keep the mass light so that the values may pass readily down through the pulp from the upper portions of the pulp body onto the table top.

The purpose of the ritlles is to stop the heavy values and prevent them from flowing toward the tail of the table and to direct them to the discharge out-lets. It is desirable that said ritiles be narrow so as not to obstruct the liow of air through the canvas top of the table.

rlhe purpose of the skimmers is to stop the lighter material from moving toward the discharge side ot the table and to direct it over the top sheet and riliies toward the tail of the table. It is only necessary, therefore, to provide along the upper edges of the ri'ltles suliicient passage ways transversely of the table to allow the values to iiow along the ritlies and under the skimmers to the discharge outlet. Consequently a portion of the space beneath the skimmers and between the ritlies may be closed to a greater or less extent within the judgment of the constructor or operator to accommodate the percentage of values from the different ores.

For the purpose of regulating the cross sectional area of the value passage ways 60 to greater or less dimensions, strips 61 of wood or other suitable material are fastened by brads 62 to the lower edges of the skimmer-s 35 and may be exchanged for strips of different length by removing the screws (a and turning the top trame formed of the rails 32, 33 and the riflies and skimmers connected therewith upside down and exchanging the strips G1 for longer or shorter strips, not shown, or the strips may be cut off in case the passages 60 are to be increased and there is sniiicient space between the brads and the lower ends of the strips Gl to allow this to be done, the value outlets being at the upper edge of the ritlles.

The openings l5 of the skimmers are provided at that edge of the tableY farthest away from the outlets 46 so as to there allow the tailings to flow freely toward the lower end of the table where they are discharged. The openings 45 may be of greater number for some of the skimmers than for others, the upper end of the table being provided with skimmers having a maximum number of openings, and the skimmers at the lower end of the table being unnotched; thus maximum movement of the tailings will occur at the upper end of the table to rapidly tree the inter-skimmer spaces from material and a minimum of values will escape at the lower end of the table.

Preferably the depth of the riiiles is uniform throughout. The table may be formed with a double bottom the lower section of such bottom being a plate or frame 63 on which is tiltingly fastened the air chest body l by hinges 6l on the gangue side and tilting or adjusting screws 65 screwing through brackets 66 on the chest body l and against plates GT on the bottom frame 63. Said screws, brackets and plates are at the value discharge side of the table, so that by turning the tilting screws, the discharge side of the table top may be raised, thus requiring the values or concentrates to climb up-hill along the riiiies in order to pass out at the value discharge outlets. By thus inclining the table downward away from the side on which the spring is located, the force ot gravity further assists the skimmers in passing the lighter material toward the tail of the table.

there the values are to be shipped or are to be smelted, a clean concentration will ordinarily be preferable, and in such cases the values will be allowed to bank up well over the outlets; but in case the concentrates are to be chemically treated it may be necessary to discharge some gangue therewith and 'for this purpose a sutlicient number of gates will be opened to allow such discharge through the discharge rail that a percentage of gangue will accompany the values. By thus adjusting the gates the character of the concentration may be controlled.

I claim l. A ccncentrator comprising an air chest having an inclined pulp supporting top that is 1permeable to air under pressure, means to supply air under pressure to the chest, ritl'les arranged on the the top transversely to the direction of the inclination, skimmers on the ritlles at an angle therewith and provided with notches, and means to shake the table lengthwise of the riilies to move material therealong in one direction.

2. A concentrator comprising an air chest having an inclined flexible pulp supporting top that is permeable to air under pressure, means to supply air under pressure to the chest. ritlles arranged on the top transversely to the direction of its inclination, skimmers on the rillles at an angle therewith, there being passages along the riilies between the skimmers and said top, means to shake the table lengthwise of the rifiles to move material therealong, means to cause vibration of the top, and a plurality of gates to control the discharge at the ends of the riiiles.

3. A eoncentrator comprising an air chest having an inclined pulp supporting top that is permeable to air under pressure, means to supply air under pressure to the chest, riiiles arranged on the top transversely to the direction or" its inclination, skimmers on the rillles at an angle therewith, means to shake the table lengthwise of the riii'les to move material therealong in one direction, a rail at the ends of the rii'lies, there being outlets under the rail between the rill'les, and gates for such outlets.

4L. An inclined shaking eoncentrator table provided with rililes to direct material to one side of the table, skimmers on such riiiles independently of one another, and forming passage-ways, means to regulate the cross sectional area of said passage-ways, and

means to intercept the material, an outlet being provided between two of said riiiles.

5. In a dry concentrator an inclined shalting table provided with transverse riiiles and skimmers arranged on the riiies at an angle therewith and provided at the lower end of the table with openings to allow the passage oi waste through the skimmers.

6. An inclined shaking concentrator table provided with rii'les to direct material to one side of the table, skimmers on such riilles, and provided with notches there being a greater number of notches in some of the skimmers than in other of the skimmers, means to intercept the material, an outlet being provided between two of said rillies and means to control the outlet.

in testimony whereof, have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 27th day of May, 1911.

JAMES R. TowNsEND, L. BELLE RICE.

@epilee of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

